The newest installment in the series, with knitting
patterns and recipes included!
Fall has come
to Fort Connor, Colorado, and the cool air has inspired the
knitters at the House of Lambspun to start on their hats and
mittens. It's also brought an influx of students to the
university town-and into the shop for knitting classes. Kelly Flynn is happy to teach them the tricks of the
trade-until one of them is found dead on the river trail
near Kelly's house. Compelled to investigate, Kelly finds
herself following a path that twists more easily than the
yarn with which she knits. Knowing the killer could be
close, Kelly must work fast to unravel the skein of this crime.
Excerpt "How did your counselor friends find this guy?" Kelly
whispered to Jayleen as they entered a corridor. "My
friend, Jerry, is director of the program that helps bring
in the vagrants who're trying to put their lives back
together. Jerry met with some of them yesterday, on
Sunday, and straight out asked if anyone remembered seeing a
young blonde girl wandering the river trail a couple of
weeks ago. This morning, one of the guys came up to Jerry
and admitted he'd seen someone that night. A young blonde
girl." "Wow, that's great news." Kelly glanced
through the doors as they walked along the
corridor. "Here we are," Jayleen indicated. "Now,
better hold back and let him tell his story. He's kind of
skittish. He's one of the ones who's been out on his own
for a while. Only this last year has he started wanting to
make some changes, Jerry said." She opened a metal office
door and motioned Kelly to enter. A small man sat in a
grey padded office chair beside a desk, holding a coffee
mug. He could have been anywhere from forty to seventy
years ago, judging from the lines and wrinkles Kelly saw on
his weather-beaten face. His hair was black and gray and
shaggy and grew down his neck. A tall slender balding man
stood beside him. "Jerry, Malcolm," Jayleen said,
nodding to the tall balding man then to the seated one.
"This is Kelly. She's a family friend of the young girl who
died." Kelly played along with Jayleen's exaggeration.
"Thanks for inviting me." "Hey, Kelly, I'm glad you
could join us," Jerry said. "Malcolm, here, told us that
he'd actually seen a young blonde girl on the trail one
night. Do you want to tell Kelly the story you told me
earlier, Malcolm?" Jerry sat in a desk chair beside the
older man who was dressed in a red and black checked flannel
shirt, faded work pants, and work boots. "Do you need a
re-fill of coffee?" Jerry pointed to the ceramic mug in
Malcolm's hand. Malcolm glanced up at Kelly. She gave
him her friendliest smile. Malcolm looked back at Jerry.
"No, I'm okay. Did you find out what they're having for
dinner tonight?" Jerry's broad face spread with a
smile. "I sure did. It's elk stew. One of our local
hunters donated his share of a bull elk from last fall's
hunting season. We've been parceling it out slowly because
it's so good." "Best thing you'll ever taste, next to
prime beef," Jayleen decreed as she sank into a chair beside
Jerry. She caught Kelly's eye and motioned to an empty
chair. "Damn right," Malcolm agreed, then drained his
coffee. He glanced at Kelly again. "You that girl's
sister or something?" Kelly settled into the chair
Jayleen indicated and quickly searched for something
plausible to answer. "No, I'm just a close friend of the
family. They're all broken up over Holly's death, and I'm
trying to find out anything I can that might bring them some
peace of mind." "Holly. That's the girl's name?"
Malcolm asked. Kelly nodded, noticing Malcolm's watery
blue eyes. "Why don't you tell Kelly what you saw
along the trail that night," Jerry suggested, leaning over,
clasped hands between his knees. Malcolm shrugged then
put his empty mug on a nearby office table. "Don't know if
it'll be any help, but I'll tell you anyway." He crossed
his arms and sank back into his chair. "It was Friday night
before last. The Mission was filled with families, so some
of us single men in line volunteered to sleep outside.
Hell, we've been doing it for years. Plus, weather's still
good. The cold hasn't settled in yet. So, I took my
bedroll and headed down to a section of the trail that's
kind of secluded and quiet. Lots of trees there beside the
river, so you can bed down under the trees and nobody's the
wiser." "What part of the trail was that, Malcolm?"
Jerry asked. "How close to the golf course were
you?" "Ohhhhh, right next to it. During daylight you
can see the golf course through the trees on that side of
the trail." "You slept on the river side,
right?" "Yep. I have some favorite spots beneath the
trees. Nobody can see you from the trail, because of the
leaves and brush. Anyway, I bedded down and went to
sleep." "About what time was that, Malcolm?" Jerry
continued. "Ohhhhh, about ten o'clock or so. It was
pretty warm that night so I went right to
sleep." "What woke you up?" "It was that girl's
voice," Malcolm said. "You get used to the sounds of
traffic at night, but you're not used to other sounds. You
know, high pitched voices like that girl's." "What'd
she say?" Kelly couldn't help asking. Malcolm shrugged
again. "Couldn't tell. All it did was wake me up. That's
when I looked over my shoulder and saw them." That
word jumped out at Kelly. "Them? You mean she
wasn't alone?" "Nope. A man was with her. Looked
like he was helping her walk down the trail. She wasn't too
steady on her feet. I figured she was drunk. They were
coming from the other end of the trail, near the
crossroads." Kelly recognized that as the crossroads
of the avenue that ran beside the knitting shop and golf
course and the large main east-west thoroughfare that ran
through Fort Connor. The river trail ran underneath the
intersection itself and came to a parking lot on the other
side of the street. "Could you see what the man looked
like?" Kelly asked, leaning forward. Malcolm shook
his head. "Nope. He was wearing a dark jacket with the
hood up. He was tall, that's all I noticed." "You saw
them walk along the trail and then what?" Jerry
probed. "The man walked the girl over to a rock and
set her down on it. Then he walked back the way he came.
Left the girl on the rock." Kelly caught Jayleen's
questioning gaze. "What'd the girl do? Did she call out or
anything? Did she follow him?" Malcolm shook his
head. "She tried to. She got up off the rock and started
walking a couple of steps then fell right down on the
ground. She lay real still, so I figured she was passed
out. I rolled over and went back to sleep." "The man
didn't come back for her?" Again, he shrugged. "If he
did, I didn't see him." "Was the girl still there in
the morning when you woke up?" Jerry asked. This time,
Malcolm looked down and shifted in his seat. "Yeah, she
was. Some guys were standin' over her, talkin' real loud.
One of them saw me and asked who she was. I played dumb and
said I'd never seen her before. I didn't want them to think
I was involved. That's why I never said nothing to anybody
until now. I don't want no trouble with the cops. No,
sir!" He gave an emphatic shake of his head. Kelly
watched Malcolm. His apprehensive glance darted from Jerry
to Jayleen to her. She couldn't tell if he was telling the
truth or not, but Jerry and Jayleen seemed confident he was.
And they both had a lot more experience with people who've
been on the skids in life. Kelly bowed to their
opinions. Jerry reached over and gave a reassuring pat
on Malcolm's back. "That's really good of you to come
forward, Malcolm. Now, maybe, the police can find out who
the guy was that left Holly on the trail that
night." Malcolm visibly flinched. "Damn. I hate
talkin' to the cops. Can you stay with me, Jerry? I start
to break out in a sweat when I see a uniform. They'll think
I had something to do with her dying." His comment
made Kelly curious. "Were you still there when the
ambulance came?" Malcolm looked at her like she had
two heads. "Hell, no! They'd have taken me in for
questioning. We all skedaddled out of there. Joe went over
to the Mission and told them a girl was lying passed out on
the trail." Jerry put his hand on Malcolm's shoulder.
"Don't worry, Malcolm. I'll stay with you whenever someone
comes to question you. I promise." Malcolm looked at
him with obvious relief. "Thanks, Jerry. Have you called
them yet?" "I'll call them now. I wanted to wait
until Kelly had a chance to hear your story first. That
way, she can let her family know if she thinks it'll help
them." Jerry looked at Kelly, his doubt
evident. "Thank you, Malcolm," Kelly said as she stood
up. "I really appreciate your telling me this. At least I
have something to help explain how Holly got down there on
the trail." "That took some guts, Malcolm," Jayleen
added as she rose. "Gotta hand it to you." Malcolm
dropped his gaze to the floor and shrugged. "Well, you guys
have always been straight with me. Thought I'd return the
favor." "You done good, Malcolm," Jerry said, clapping
him on the shoulder.
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